New Mexico guv, other leaders tout progress during COP 28 – NM Political Report

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney participated in a panel discussion Sunday during the COP 28 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai that focused on what states are doing to transition away from fossil fuels. Lujan Grisham praised state policies that have led to decreases in emissions, such […]

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney participated in a panel discussion Sunday during the COP 28 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai that focused on what states are doing to transition away from fossil fuels.

Lujan Grisham praised state policies that have led to decreases in emissions, such as the methane regulations.

“New Mexico has seen record drops in methane emissions in a state that produces, let’s face it, a lot of oil and gas,” she said.

She said data shows New Mexico has had real and meaningful reductions in methane emissions and that neighboring states without the same policies have not seen those same reductions.

Lujan Grisham said there is a sentiment in the United States that protecting people from emissions hurts economic vitality, but she said that is not true. Instead, the governor argued that policies intended to stop super emitters and reduce greenhouse gas emissions can drive innovation and bolster economic growth.

Kenney also spoke about economic growth related to clean energy, including green hydrogen and solar panel manufacturing.

He said New Mexico policies and laws have led to a reduction of 48 million metric tons of carbon.

Kenney said those reductions are thanks to efforts that the state undertook even before the federal Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, or Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, provided incentives for states to implement such measures.

United States National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi also spoke on the panel. 

Zadi spoke about the San Juan Generating Station west of Farmington. He said that the now shuttered power plant is a place where “they’re not just imagining solar panels in the future.”

A massive solar farm is being built adjacent to the closed coal mine and power plant.